Mom hires squatters to watch kids for $200 in vacant home, cops say. ‘Needed a break’
An Indiana woman is accused of paying squatters $200 to babysit her children in a “filthy” vacant home, police said.
Now, she’s facing three counts of child neglect, court records show.
McClatchy News is not naming the mother to protect the identities of the children.
It’s unclear if the mother turned herself in or was arrested but she appeared in court on the charges May 20.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a 911 call around 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 30 about two children — a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old — walking in the street alone in the rain, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police discovered the kids and their 5-year-old sibling had been living with squatters — a man and a woman — their mother paid to babysit them for multiple days, court records show.
All three children were taken to a local hospital for evaluation, per the affidavit.
The woman arrived to pick up her children from the abandoned house around 9 p.m. on Jan. 30, about three hours after neighbors called 911 when they spotted two of the kids in the street unsupervised, according to the affidavit.
During an investigation, the mother told authorities she “needed a break because she just lost two family members,” records show.
The squatters told investigators they thought they would be watching the kids for just a few hours when they were dropped off on Jan. 28, but their mother didn’t return until two days later, records show.
It is unclear from the records if or how she knew either of these individuals.
The children were placed in the custody of a family case manager with the Department of Child Services, court records show.
Authorities said they lost contact with the mother during the investigation and an arrest warrant was issued on March 26, court records show.
The warrant was canceled on May 17, and the mother’s initial hearing took place on May 20, according to court records.
This story was originally published May 20, 2024 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Mom hires squatters to watch kids for $200 in vacant home, cops say. ‘Needed a break’."
